19 September 2011, 15:55
At the briefing after the Conciliative Council, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mykola Tomenko stated that the budget is a fundamental economic document for the opposition.
Mykola Tomenko was surprised by the fact that the Government was ready to work together with the Party of Regions and other pro-authority parties, and did not wish to deal with the opposition. "It is a strange approach, since the Government dealt only with ‘the right´ parties, while ‘a right´ budget is the one adopted by the authorities, the opposition, the local self-government, and the whole society", Deputy Chairman emphasized.
M. Tomenko focused on the problems with financial support of the local self-government. "Local self-government will be in decline again. I am not sure whether they will be able to make both ends meet and how they will cover the social expenditures," he admitted.
"Budget expenditures were cut down in the sphere of education, physical culture, sports, and public health", M. Tomenko added.
Summing up, M. Tomenko stressed that the opposition is ready for a serious discussion of the budget. He hopes that the authorities will listen to them, not only to the pro-authority factions.